Trump Indicted for Conspiring to Overturn the 2020 Election

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It worked; the opinion is out. Now to see what it says.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

ER CURIAM JUDGMENT [2038999] filed that the order of the District Court appealed from in this cause be affirmed, for the reasons in the accompanying opinion . The Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate through February 12, 2024. If, within that period, Appellant notifies the Clerk in writing that he has filed an application with the Supreme Court for a stay of the mandate pending the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari, the Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate pending the Supreme Court’s final disposition of the application. The filing of a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc will not result in any withholding of the mandate, although the grant of rehearing or rehearing en banc would result in a recall of the mandate if the mandate has already issued. See D.C. Cir. R. 41(a)(4). Before Judges: Henderson, Childs and Pan. [23-3228] [Entered: 02/06/2024 09:58 AM]

It looks they have made it so that Trump needs to quickly petition the SCOTUS, since filing a petition for rehearing en bank would not result in withholding mandate.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The decision is unanimous and filed per curium. No separate opinions, so that means that the two BIden appointees and the GWHB appointee were completely on the same page after all. That might make it less likely that the SCOTUS grants review.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The Supreme Court really has two options in the Trump immunity case:

It can deny Trump’s forthcoming stay request, and clear the way for the prosecution to proceed quickly; or it can grant the stay—and expedite its review of the merits of today’s ruling, with a decision by June.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Here's a more detailed run-down of the court's options by Steve Vladeck, though the tl;dr comes down to the same thing as the above.

66. United States v. Trump

[Voronwë the Faithful]

As expected, Trump has filed an application for a stay of the mandate pending filing a petition for certiorari.

[N.E. Brigand]

"Badger Pundit: Ken Chesebro Live-Tweeted The Coup Attempt from a Secret Account."

And that's only a sidebar to a Talking Points Memo about newly-published documents showing the plotters' 2020-2021 legal strategy (Bush v. Gore redux).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Roberts gave the SCO until next Tuesday to respond to the application for a stay, considerably more time than some were expecting. I doubt they will take that long, however. Nonetheless, it seems to me that it might be an indication that Roberts is in no hurry to make a decision on this.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The SCO filed its response today. I was pleased to see that it contained this:

Applicant’s asserted equities in avoiding further pretrial proceedings do not outweigh those interests. Nor does his assertion (Appl. 3 4, 33-38) that the First Amendment rights of “tens of millions of American voters” compel further delay in the criminal proceedings. To the contrary, the charges here involve applicant’s alleged efforts to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters. The national
interest in resolving those charges without further delay is compelling.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Trump has filed his reply so briefing is complete.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

SCOTUS has announced that it will put out an order list on Tuesday morning. I am not predicting that it will include an order on Trump's stay application.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I've seen several commentators suggest that because tomorrow the court has announced that it "may" release opinions tomorrow, it will both release its opinion overturning the Colorado Supreme Court in the 14th Amendment section 3 case and at the same time (to balance that decision) also announce that it is denying Trump's stay application in this case. I am very doubtful that will happen (indeed I still think it is more likely than not going to grant the stay and punt on this as long as it can). I hope they are right and I am wrong!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm going to put this here rather than in the document case thread, because I do think that there is a significant chance that this may lead the Supreme Court to take on the immunity issue.

[N.E. Brigand]

"Badger Pundit: Ken Chesebro Live-Tweeted The Coup Attempt from a Secret Account."

And that's only a sidebar to a Talking Points Memo about newly-published documents showing the plotters' 2020-2021 legal strategy (Bush v. Gore redux).

Chesebro to Michigan: "I don't need to show you no stinkin' badgers!"

[Voronwë the Faithful]

It's funny that CNN is putting out a "breaking news story" about Chesebro's twitter account when TPM (and N.E.B.) broke the story two weeks ago.

[N.E. Brigand]

What's new in CNN's piece is the comparison between what Chesebro posted under his secret Twitter account "Badger Pundit" and what he told investigators in Michigan. Josh Marshall, the editor-in-chief at Talking Points Memo, notes that CNN "kinda sorta credits TPM breaking the story, even if the reference and link are buried pretty far down in the piece."

I was just grateful for a chance to make that joke.

[N.E. Brigand]

The "podium-gate" scandal involving Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is apparently a January 6th story at its base.

Podium schmodium. The overpriced lectern is dwarfed by the value of the Super Bowl suite access ($200K+) that Sanders and her family got from unknown sources.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

SCOTUS has granted review on an expedited basis, with oral argument to be scheduled the week of April 22, 2024. Difficult to see a scenario where this case actually goes to trial before the election, but we'll see. If it does, it will be right in the middle of the general election. Here is the court's order:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/cou ... 3_febh.pdf

[N.E. Brigand]

Wow. I wonder if they've thought this through.

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm going to put this here rather than in the document case thread, because I do think that there is a significant chance that this may lead the Supreme Court to take on the immunity issue.

You were right.